Monthly Archives: April 2012

China’s development has seen a dramatic rise in quality of life for many of its people as many people are well aware. But despite this improvement in quality of life, modern China also has some very high suicide rates. According to 2010 figures supplied by the WHO, China is ranked 9th in the world in suicide rates behind Latvia and ahead of Slovenia.

What accounts for this high rate and what are some things the government or others do to reduce this trend?

It seems not. Rarely does their opinions (or the opinions of Chinese citizens for that matter) come into the equation when speaking about Sino-Tibetan issues. It’s taken as a given that they all want independence. That all of their lives are far worse under Chinese “occupation” than it was under the Dalai Lama’s Shangrila Kingdom. Westerners likely take the viewpoints of Tibetan emigres as a representative sample of 5.8 million Tibetans inside Tibet.

Granted, other than the anecdotal evidence from travelers, there are few objective evidence from surveys are rarely conducted inside Tibet. But I know of two that polls ethnic Tibetans inside Tibet for their views. But what are their views?

Zbigniew Brzezinski is a well known political scientist and the media often gives him opportunities to voice opinions on foreign policy. How deserving is this accorded credibility? Well, though I have not read much from him, from the looks of this article he wrote in foreignpolicy it would appear that his competence as a expert on international affairs is grossly inadequate and, moreover, because that incompetence is combined with influence, it makes him very dangerous too.

So I will only criticize that article. It is about the dangers of a declining US and the rise of China. (Anyone who is more familiar with his writing and views, please disabuse me of my ignorance if I am shown to misunderstand him.)

In a recent RT short documentary on Chinese Americans going back to China (see here and part two here) the ugly conception I have been only somewhat familiar with is brought to attention: that many Chinese people in China believe that Chinese people are not as good as their western counterparts. It may not be an explicit belief but something more like a deep-rooted sensibility that only manifests itself subtly in unconscious behavior in many people. But the video definitely supports the view that perhaps the Chinese people in China lack a sense of collective self-esteem vis a vis westerners. I am saddened that many of these Chinese American expats say they experienced discrimination by Chinese Chinese. They mention that they are not seen as an equal to do many jobs which require a certain “international” image (a clear euphemism for white or western). They are seen as more likely to be less competent at the English language despite the fact that these Chinese Americans seem to be Native English speakers. They are seen by other Chinese in China as overall less good both professionally and perhaps overall.